Not Completely Lacking
by sshaw101
Summary: When a weekend trip to visit Liz in Georgia goes a little better than planned, Zach realizes just how good it feels to wait, and how, with time, life works itself out. [Loosely based off future events hinted at in Zach Sang's most recent interview with Liz Gillies (and Matt Bennett) and his need for fanfiction (see Zach's twitter).]


**Hi people people! She has returned! Well, here you go Zach (Sang)! Sorry for saying I'd probably accidentally friendzone you. I hope this makes up for it! Also, grab yourself a muffin. You deserve it!**

 **As for like the five other people who'll actually read this, I (hopefully) will have something coming by the end of the summer. Sorry if you wanted a Zariana (Zach and Ariana) story, but Zach's interview with Liz (and Matt) gave me immense inspiration. You don't need to have seen it, but it'll definitely help. So without further ado, onto the story.**

* * *

 **** **Disclaimer** **: Liz and Zach and Dan and Matt and Heather and Ariana all own themselves. Or at least I suppose they do.**

* * *

"Hey," Liz greeted the radio personals. She'd offered to pick the three up at the airport, as they were unfamiliar with the area. Ariana and Matt would be arriving later that night and taking an Uber over to the condo.

"Where's Mike?" Heather asked getting into the front seat. "Did he stay back at your place?"

"Mike and I…broke up," Liz took a deep breath. "It's whatever," she shrugged it off. "No big deal."

Dan and Zach finished loading their luggage into the trunk of Liz's car and the four friends were off on the road. Talk quickly turned to anything from work to what they had eaten for breakfast to what animal(s) Liz should get next. About a half an hour later, the car pulled in front of a rather impressive looking condominium.

The girls would be sharing Liz's king sized bed, while the three guys would split themselves between the bunkbeds and single bed Liz had placed in her spare room. The space wasn't overly large, but was generously sized for a lone occupant. Having a few hours before Matt and Ariana would arrive for dinner and some time to kill, Liz quickly broke out the alcohol.

"To us," Heather raised her glass.

"To us," the other three repeated.

"Too bad Jill couldn't come. She'd be loving this right now." Heather sighed.

The four continued to drink and have a good time, joking and laughing about their lives and older memories. Liz just looked so beautiful to Zach, having seen her truly smile this way only a handful of times. He quickly excused himself and rushed into the bathroom to gather his thoughts. This weekend, he was gonna do it. I wasn't ideal timing that she has just ended a relationship that had spanned almost their whole friendship, but it was truly now or never. He'd been "friendzoned" so many times and almost felt undatable at times. His friends had tried to help him out so many times, but maybe Zach just needed to be a big boy and do something for himself.

"Knock knock," Matt knocked on the door as he let himself and Ariana in. After getting themselves settled in and reacquainted, the six friends left to find something yummy to eat. They were in for a long day tomorrow, and decided to have a chill night in and watch The Rugrats Movie.

* * *

 _{the next day}_

The six friends took the next morning to rest and, for the five people coming from California, to get over their jet lag a bit. They'd need to be in Downtown Atlanta by 5:30pm and the actual premier of the show would be at 7:00pm. Having only one bathroom was proving to be a struggle, but somehow they had all made it with a few minutes to spare. Liz and Ariana and Matt were immediately bombarded by fans, having tweeted and posted massively about their little get together. Zach, still not totally used to this many people and cameras flashing everywhere, stayed mostly in the background. He was able to stay under the radar all night and had really enjoyed the show. Liz and the whole cast had done amazing and he truly believed it would satisfy fans of the original. It was definitely not a show that would disappoint.

Rather than attend the after party, the six went back to Liz's condo for a raving game of drunk Cards Against Humanity and karaoke. Liz was able to breathe a sigh of relief, having avoided a night of crowds and lines. As the night progressed, the friends left for bed one by one until only Zach and Liz were left. After a rousing rendition of that one song from Rent, Liz suggested that they get some sleep before they had to leave tomorrow afternoon.

"Night Zach," Liz yawned. "See you in the morning."

"Night," he smiled back. Damn, he had missed his chance tonight. He was so close so many times, but the opportunity seems to always be just beyond his reach.

Dan awoke early in the morning, already feeling the effects of the probable hangover. As he stumbled to the bathroom, he was met with a locked door and the sound of someone throwing up. Seeing as both Matt and Zach were sound asleep in the bunkbeds, he guessed that it had to be one of the girls.

"Hey, are you alright in there?" Dan knocked on the door. Whoever was in there sounded super-duper sick, and soon, he might be joining them.

"I'm fine," Liz's voice answered back. "I'll be out in a..." Liz threw up again.

Dan was still feeling a little hurt by Liz's comment that he needed to be spanked, even if it had been over two years ago, but here was his good friend puking her guts outs. She'd been such a great host and had actually invited this many people to stay at her two bedroom place, even going as far as to offer to sleep on the balcony so there was more room.

"Liz, it's Dan. Open the door!" Dan knocked gently again. After a brief moment, he heard the soft sound of footsteps and the unlatching of the lock. Once Dan was able to open the door fully, Liz immediately ran back to the toilet, continuing to empty the content of her stomach. Man was she getting sick of this stomach issue.

"No," Liz pushed the man off as he tried to hold her hair back. "I want Zach. Go get Zach!" she weakly demanded.

"She wanted Zach?" Dan thought to himself. "Not Ariana or Heather? Or even Matt." He figured he might as well not fight or question a sick person. "Alright. I'll go get him. Be right back. Hang in there," he promised his sick friend. Shaking Zach from his sleep, Dan woke his friend.

"Yo Zach. Zach, wake up!" he continued to shake his friend and co-worker. Groggily, Zach sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Dude, what time is it?"

"Like, 1:30am. Liz is puking in the bathroom and she wants you." Upon hearing his friend's name, Zach immediately jumped out of bed and rushed to his friend's side.

"I got it from here," he assured Dan, shooing him away and back to bed. He took a seat next to Liz on the bathroom floor and rubbed her back. He grabbed a stray hair tie and secured Liz's hair back like he'd seen his mom do with his sister once. "Let's get you something to settle your stomach" he suggested.

Zach wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or her stomach acting up again, but until she felt better, his plan to "whoo the girl" would have to stay on hold. As the hours passed, Zach stayed by Liz's side on the bathroom floor. By about 5:00am, Liz had decided to camp out on the bathroom floor as to not get anyone else sick, if she even was, and to lessen the cleanup she'd have to do if she didn't make it to the toilet.

"I'll stay with you," Zach offered. Liz smiled up at Zach, staring into his eyes. She'd never noticed how, if the light was shining just the right way, there were little speaks of orange. Before she knew it, her lips were on his. She could feel him freeze for a moment before he began kissing back in response. If she didn't know him, Liz would never have expected how unexperienced and awkward Zach could be.

"Wow!" Zach pulled away amazed. Had that really just happened? Just when he wasn't trying, had he done it? Had he finally gotten the girl?

"Can this floor take a pounding?" Liz gently laughing, feeling a bit better now. She hadn't even noticed how they had intertwined their bodies. Zach leaned in for another kiss, which Liz happily accepted. They were quietly enjoying each other's company, slowing watching the sun rise on the bathroom wall. Suddenly they heard a yelp and saw a flash of Ariana's short frame before the door slammed shut. "Serves her right!" Liz laughed, having gotten over her nausea as she leaned into Zach's loving arms.

* * *

 _{five years later}_

After their awkward first (true) encounter in the condo bathroom all those years ago, Liz and Zach's relationship had moved fast. The first year or so had been difficult with Liz filming in Georgia and Zach hosting his radio show in California, but they had made it work. After two years of dating, the couple was married in a lavish ceremony, much to the delight of the world's "Lach" shippers. Now, nearly three years later, they had an eighteen month old son and were also expecting another baby. Currently the little family was headed to get celebratory waffles, Zach having just been recently nominated for the Marconi Radio Award for Network/Syndicated Personality of the Year. Cutting the song she was singing short, Liz mumbled something to Zach, pointing in front of the car.

"How far?" Zach asked, looking over to his wife in hopes of getting a better understanding of what she was trying to say.

"Car!" Liz repeated louder, but it was too late. By the time Zach's eyes were back on the road in front of him, the truck was already smashing into the side of their car. Zach had no time to react and was left helpless, only to allow the larger vehicle to make contact with his car.

Zach immediately bolted out of his sleep, shooting straight up to a sitting position in bed. He'd been having dreams like this all week long and, quite frankly, they were starting to piss him off. First it was just general injuries or misfortunes, but now they involved his family, people he loved and truly cared about, and that's where it needed to end. He'd talk to his therapist tomorrow to schedule a time for him to come in and talk.

"Zach!" Liz groaned, not even rolling over to check on her husband. It's not like she even could if she wanted to, as her greatly pregnant body restricted her from doing so easily. "Did you have one of those dreams again?" she sighed, sensing how rigid Zach still was. This must have been a pretty brutal nightmare.

"Go back to bed," Zach gave his wife a peck on the cheek before exiting their bedroom to retrieve a glass of water. Once in the kitchen, Zach splashed some cold water on his face and filled an empty glass. After taking a few large gups, he sat down at the countertop bar to gather his thoughts. Nothing in his life had really changed recently to trigger this type of situation. Was he nervous about the baby? Could he be overworking himself in hopes of being rewarded and furthering his career? Zach finished the drink, then set the empty glass in the sink. Turning around to go back to bed, his foot caught on the chair he had failed to push back under the counter. His body hit the ground with a hard thud, though it didn't seem to hurt at all.

"Zach?" Liz's words rang in his ears. "Zach, are you okay?" As he struggled to open his eyes, they were met with a harsh light. How did Liz get here so fast? And when did she turn on the lights?

"He looks like a drunk goat," Zach heard a male voice laugh.

"Zach!" Liz poked at his face. Once adjusted to the light, Zach was met with the worried expression of Liz; however, she looked different. Her hair was the lighter shade between blonde and brunette it had been years ago when she had been on his show the summer they turned 24. And Dan and Heather were there. How'd they get into his house? And how long had he been out? "That's it. I'm calling Ariana and Matt. We can do dinner another time." Liz scrambled to retrieve her cell phone.

"W-what?" Zach stammered out.

"Well," Dan began, "you had like two glasses of champagne and a shot of vodka, then stood up and passed out...ten minutes ago," Dan looked at his phone for the time. Champagne? Dan and Heather? Young Liz.

"What year is it?" Zach groaned and rubbed his eyes. Only now did he truly realized how sore his head felt.

"It's 2017," Heather looked between the two men. "Yo, I think he has a concussion," she called over to Liz who was frantically talking away on her phone.

Now fully supported on his elbows, Zach realized that he was in Liz's Atlanta condo. The memories of the morning and early afternoon came flooding back. Somehow in his minutes of unconsciousness, he had conjured up the whole thing. As Liz returned, she ordered Zach to lay on the couch while she got him some ice and called her stomach doctor (because he'd at least be able to give the group of twenty-somethings some guidance). Zach couldn't help but lightly blush any time Liz made contact with his body or said his name. Life doesn't exactly just go back to normal when you have a dream like that about your friend. Regardless, Zach was here to have fun this weekend and he'd just let fate take its course. He knew he'd find the right girl for him someday, whether that turned out to be Elizabeth Gillies or not.

* * *

 **Well, I hope at least someone enjoyed that. It was a quick five or so hour write up, so please excuse any errors or inconsistencies (especially to you real life people involved in this). Have a great rest of your night/early morning/whatever time it is where you are (even if that's all of time and space). If you actually read this, give me something funny to name a chicken. I must now go to bed as I have work tomorrow. Peace!**

 **-Sami**


End file.
